Da Nang cafes, restaurants offer free restrooms for tourists

ĐÀ NẴNG — More than 300 restaurants, cafés, bars, hotels and shopping centres are offering free restrooms for tourists in the downtown area as part of an effort to boost hospitality in the central city.

Nguyễn Xuân Bình, deputy director of the city’s tourism department, said the campaign was launched in 2015 at 100 restaurants and cafés downtown. He said the city would continue to encourage restaurant and café owners in the city to offer free restrooms for visitors in the coming years.

He said the department also offered a smart phone application called Comfort as Home to help tourists locate free restrooms in the city.

Nguyễn Hồng Sơn, vice chairman of Hải Châu District’s business association, said tourists can recognise free restroom sites with the logo saying Comfort as Home, or “Free Restroom” on the door.

He said the free service will help reduce the city’s expenditures on building public toilets.

Đà Nẵng, with only 20 public toilets, has determined that it needs more than 6,000 public restrooms for tourists and local people at a cost of VNĐ10 trillion (US$440 million).

In May, the city’s tourism department opened visitors’ centres at Đà Nẵng International Airport’s new terminal and downtown to provide free information, brochures and maps for tourists.

Last year the department launched its fanpage, Danang FantasiCity, as an official channel of Đà Nẵng’s tourism sector on Facebook. The city hosted 5.1 million tourists, including 1.76 million foreigners, in the first nine months this year, bringing VNĐ15 trillion ($663 million) to the local economy. — VNS

The logo of free restrooms launched at restaurants, cafes, hotels and shopping centres in Đà Nẵng city. More than 300 sites in the city now offer free restrooms for tourists and local people. — VNS Photo Công Thành